Hitty: Her First Hundred Years

Field, R. (1929). Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Hitty begins her memoir after finding herself in a museum and having access to a quill with which she knows how to write.  Her story begins from creation by an Old Peddler who gives Hitty to a little girl named Phoebe Preble.  Phoebe cares for Hitty in only a way that an eighteenth century girl can including sewing her clothing and stitching the name Hitty into her skirt. Phoebe cares very well for Hitty and when Phoebe heads to sea with her father, captain of a whaling ship, so does Hitty.  Hitty learns the way of sailors and whaling when suddenly disaster strikes.  The ship catches on fire and Hitty is abandoned to the flames as she watches her family row away in a lifeboat.  From here, Hitty’s amazing adventures begin and she finds herself in precarious situations with difficult people and surrounded by languages and customs she does not recognize, but accepts nevertheless.  Hitty’s story is one that should be read by every little girl coming of age as she is repeatedly abandoned and found and cared for by many small children.  It is a story of wisdom and patience and well-worth the read. (Grade 5 and up).